Railway conductor plow



June 3, 1958 v ROBB ETAL 2,837,608

RAILWAY CONDUCTOR PLOW Filed April 11 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1- INVENTORS 1/0 E. SAC/IE BY VINCENT E E055 A TTO/P/YEY RAILWAY CONDUCTOR PLOW Vincent P. Robb, Philadelphia, Pa., and John R. Sacher, Erlton, N. J.

Application April 11, 1955, Serial No. 500,713

1 Claim. (Cl. 19148) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to electric railway vehicle propulsion and is particularly concerned with conduit plows which carry equipment for conveying current from sub-surface conductor rails to a vehicle motor.

The conduit plow of this invention has general utility in connection with railway vehicles and is ruggedly constructed and readily adaptable for use with light or heavy railway equipment of the type that is used with electric conductor rails disposed below the surface level. The rails, as is well understood, are positioned in spaced relationship and the conduit plow assembly travels between the rails which are oppositely charged and the current is transferred from the rails by collector shoes and other electrical equipment carried by the plow to the railway vehicle motors.

By the invention, provision is made for compactly arranging the electrical equipment within and about the plow structure in a manner to provide for ready assembly or disassembly of the parts for repair or replacement. Another feature or object is in adapting the plow for readily receiving the collector shoes and electrical equipment carried thereby. Still another feature resides in the simplicity of the plow construction and the ease and economy of repairing and replacing parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the annexed drawings, which illustrate one embodiment, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of the plow assembly with a portion cut away to show details;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a view of the plow with one face plate removed; and

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the conductor plow is made of front and rear metal plates 11 and 12 which are separated by means of a plurality of elongated spacing elements 14 which are disposed between the plates adjacent their upper horizontal and side edges to provide a housing 13 having an open lower end. At its upper end the plow 10 is provided with angle irons 15-15 for securement to the underframing of a railway vehicle (not shown). The plates and spacing elements are suitably secured together as by bolt connections to provide an en closure or housing 13 for receiving electrical equipment which is in the form of flat strip conductors 16 and 17 and insulation indicated at I.

The face plates are shown with slots 18 and 19 in their upper end portions through which extend the upper end portions 20 and 21 of the fiat conducting strips 16 and 17. The upper ends 20 and 21 as shown in Fig. 2 are disposed laterally of the face plates while the lower ends extend downwardly through the open end of the housing rlc At its lower end, the plow 10 is provided with supports 22 and 23 of insulating material which extend transversely of the face plates 11 and 12 for receiving collector shoes, shown generally at 24 and 25. The conductor strips 16 and 17 are insulated from the plates and are in current conducting relation at their lower end portions with the collector shoes 24 and 25 through leads generally indicated at X and Y. As is usual the plow may be provided with Wear plates 26 and 27 which are so positioned thereon to move between the guard rails (not shown) which are disposed above the conductor rails at the ground surface. Collector shoes 24 and 25 may be of the type disclosed and claimed in our co-pending application, Serial No. 500,714 filed April 11, 1955, for Current Collector Assembly for Railway Cranes.

In Fig. 3, the front face plate 11 and its attached support 22 are removed while the marginal spacing elements 14 and conductor strips are shown in their association with the rear face plate 12 and the support 23. The housing 13 is preferably further divided by a spacing element 31) to provide similar compartments 31-31, each of which receives one of the conductor strips. The supports 22 and 23 are similarly constructed and each is provided with a recess portion 32 as shown in Fig. 4, for receiving the lower ends of one of the conductor strips which as shown with strip 16 are bent at an angle and attached by means of bolt connections 36 to the insulated supports. Each recess portion 32 is of sulficient depth to receive the lower ends of each strip and the recesses preferably extend to the side edges of the supports and after the strips are assembled, filler material 33 of Micarta or other insulating medium is inserted between the supports.

Each of the supports 22 and 23 is provided at its lower end with a cut-out portion which communicates with the recess portion 32. An open end metal connector 35 for receiving one end of the braided lead Wires X and Y is removably secured in each of the cut-out portions and maintained in physical contact with each conductor strip by a bolted connection36.

In assembling the device the conductor strips 16 and 17 are inserted in the slots 18 and 19, passed through the compartments 31 and their lower end portions secured in the recesses 32 in the supports 22 and 23. Each conductor strip is provided with an insulated covering which, for example, may be formed by applying various coatings of insulating varnish, cellophane, mica, glass tape, and so forth. The filler strip 33 is then positioned between the supports 22 and 23 which are bolted together to form a unitary structure. The collector shoes 24 and 25 may be secured to the supports either before or after the supports are assembled. A filler material such as hot pitch may then be used to fill any remaining spaces in the compartments 31 and recesses 32 to provide a compactly assembled and rigid structure.

The recesses 32 may be variously formed, but for simplicity of manufacture they extend inwardly from a side edge of the support a distance sufiicient to receive the conductor strips and the tiller material. The recesses may extend over the transverse lower portion of the supports or may be formed by channel like portions in the body of the support or they may extend to a line generally of each support. However, the recesses are formed, it is essential that the material 33 be used to provide an insulating zone between the lower end portlons of the conductor strips and particularly to provide insulation between the connectors 35.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claim the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

A vertical conductor plow assembly comprising from; and rear metal plates, an elongate horizontaljspacing element between the upper edges of theplates and a pair of vertical spacing elements between the side edges of said plates providing a housing therebetween having an open lower end, a horizontal slot in each of said plates disposed below and adjacent the horizontal spacing element providing front and rear slots, a pair of spaced electrically insulated conductor strips extending vertically within said compartment, one of said strips havingits upper end bent to extend outwardly from the front slot and the other strip having its upper end bent to extend outwardly from the rear slot to provide spaced front and rear connections for receiving electrical wiring, each strip extending through the lower open end of the compartment providing first and second horizontally spaced lower end portions, a first insulated support having its upper portion fixed to the front metal plate providing a first depending portion and a second insulated support having its upper portion fixed to the rear metal plate providing a second depending portion, said depending portions having their inner faces disposed adjacent each other, a recess in the inner face of each depending portion, securing means for maintaining said first lower end portion of one conductor strip in the recess of said first depending portion of one support and securing means for maintaining said second lower end portion of the other conductor strip in the recess of said second depending portion of the other support, insulation in each recess disposed adjacent each conductor strip, each of said supports having a cut out portion at its lower end which communicates with its inner recess, a metal connector secured in each cut out portion, means for clamping the lower ends the supports together to provide a unitary structure and place each metal connector in independent contact with one of the conductor strips, a collector shoe fixed to the outer face of each support, a lead wire carried by each metal connector and" one lead wire being connected to one collector shoe and the other lead wire being connected to the other collector shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 560,84l Connett May 26, 1896 1,572,966 Schaake Feb. 16, 1926 1,922,544 Lindsey Aug. 15, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 36,025 Germany June 26, 1886' 243,834 Great Britain Dec. 10, 1925 

